More than 40 groups urge fossil-free zones

Caribbean na­tions fac­ing grow­ing cli­mate threats are among those be­ing urged to strength­en pro­tec­tions against oil and gas ex­pan­sion.

More than 40 en­vi­ron­men­tal and civ­il so­ci­ety or­gan­i­sa­tions have called on gov­ern­ments at­tend­ing the UN Cli­mate Change Con­fer­ence (COP31) to es­tab­lish Fos­sil-Free Zones, warn­ing that con­tin­ued oil and gas ex­pan­sion threat­ens vul­ner­a­ble re­gions, in­clud­ing the Caribbean, where com­mu­ni­ties are al­ready grap­pling with the im­pacts of cli­mate change.

The joint de­c­la­ra­tion, re­leased on Thurs­day, urges gov­ern­ments to halt new fos­sil fu­el ex­plo­ration and ex­pan­sion in en­vi­ron­men­tal­ly and cul­tur­al­ly sig­nif­i­cant ar­eas while pri­ori­tis­ing the re­spon­si­ble clo­sure of ex­ist­ing projects.